Results from my Taylor 2006 Kit....... Now what?

[ewaba]

Ok Folks, So took your advice and bought myself a water kit Taylor 2006.  Here is my results.....
Ph-7.6, Alk-120, Temp of Hot tub 101-102, Hardness-120, FC-10.4, CC-0.6-0.8, CYA 40.  Overall SI- 0.0-0.1.

On my test strips..... it measured- TC between 5-10, FC- between 3-5, TA-180, pH-between 7.2-7.8 and Hardness-100.

I'm now confused...... Can you tell me what i should do now?  I know i have to correct the hardness to around 150-200 range, but with high chlorine content.....is it just time till it comes down?  What about the combined chlorines?   Superchlorination!!!!!  How do I do that?

Thanks Barb

[Vinny]

Based on your readings and your post - you know where your water is at.

Don't worry about hardness, FC is high and will come down (you must have used a shock dose equivalent) and your CC should come down because your FC is much higher and should burn it off. One thing to mention is that I believe Taylor kits will measure CC if non chlorine shock is used ... I'm not 100% sure about that but I'm pretty sure.

Superchlorination is adding a lot of chlorine to the water to disinfect the tub at a higher level than the norm (3 PPM), the amount to add is 3x the CC amount for breaking the CC based on what Chem Geek said in this post: http://www.whatsthebest-hottub.com/forum/index.php/topic,19311.msg194658.html#msg194658 but using higher just means if something is resistant the higher amount should get rid of it.

[ewaba]

OK.... so I'm really not a stupid person, but starting to feel like one    Today I checked my hot tub just one day after doing Taylor kit yesterday.  Yesterday the total chlorine was high as was the free chlorine (see my initial note for values.)  Today there was no chlorine at all on the strips.  I took a sample to a store and they quoted my levels FC 0.13ppm, TC 3.25, CC 3.12ppm, pH 7.5, Hardness 200, Alk 120 and CYA 20.
I retested my chlorine with the Taylor kit for my own verification, I got FC 3ppm and CC 1ppm, which I believe is a TC 4ppm.

The only change I did to the tub yesterday was add some calcium as it was low at 150, which now seems to have corrected.  No-one has used the tub since last Saturday.  On that occasion, 4 adults in tub.  Afterwards I added 1 capful(30g) of Sundance Sun Boom Stabalized chlorine granules.  The next morning I shocked the tub with 100g of Spa Boss non chlorinated Shock.  I noted the day after that, that the total and free chlorine were too high, so figured time would sort that out.  When I checked yesterday still high, then today almost nothing!!!!!

So what should i do now?  This is really confusing me......I'm not sure if I'm just over testing and analyzing this!!!!!  Hot tub store recommended shocking first the adding sanitizer, any other suggestions?

Thanks Barb

[Vinny]

Trust the Taylor kit.

As I said non chlorine shock makes the Taylor kit read CC. 3 ppm FC + 1 PPM CC does equal 4 PPM TC.

You do not need non chlorine shock. I only use it when I have a lot of organics in the tub and it would take a lot of chlorine to burn it up or if the tub has some CC and i want to use the tub in a short period of time (you can go into the tub 20 minutes after adding non chlorine shock).

Is it possible that you messed up either last night or today for the readings to be so different?

[ewaba]

Only thing i did different was the sample size of water.  First day I used the 10ml measurement and multiplied the drops by 0.5, (trying to save reagent)  Second day I used the 25ml measurement and multiplied the drops by 0.2.  Just for fun I am going to check it again today.  It's reassuring to hear that I should trust the Taylor Kit.  Thats why we bought it. 

Yesterday as per hot tub stores recommendations, I shocked it first, then added 1 tablespoon of sanitizer granules not 1 cap like before!!!!  lol

Not really sure what you mean about the Taylor Kit and combined chlorine though!!!!

Thanks for your help  

[Topline Mike]

Yesterday as per hot tub stores recommendations, I shocked it first, then added 1 tablespoon of sanitizer granules not 1 cap like before!!!!  lol

So you shocked the water, and then shocked it again? 

You're headed in the right direction.  Get your TA down to 60-80 ppm, which means adding a few more ounces of pH down, or acid.  I use standard muriatic acid that I get at my local hardware store, $5 per gallon. 

I don't worry about CC, just how much Free Chlorine (FC) is in the water.  If you check one day and the FC is at 3ppm, and then check two days later, the FC will be zero.  Just because nobody has used the tub doesn't mean the FC will be constant.  You have to add chlorine every day or every other day, depending on how much you add. 

With experience, you will be adding chemicals with confidence.  Don't overthink it right now.  Having the best test kit available is a great start. 

[Vinny]

Only thing i did different was the sample size of water.  First day I used the 10ml measurement and multiplied the drops by 0.5, (trying to save reagent)  Second day I used the 25ml measurement and multiplied the drops by 0.2.  Just for fun I am going to check it again today.  It's reassuring to hear that I should trust the Taylor Kit.  Thats why we bought it. 

Yesterday as per hot tub stores recommendations, I shocked it first, then added 1 tablespoon of sanitizer granules not 1 cap like before!!!!  lol

Not really sure what you mean about the Taylor Kit and combined chlorine though!!!!

Thanks for your help

You really don't need to shock unless the tub needs it (well with non chlorine shock, chlorine is OK to use). The idea is to get 3 PPM FC reading when measured 20 minutes after adding chlorine - that is what you're shooting for. Add more chlorine to superdisinfect and to burn off CC ... once you get a handle on the whole thing - you can use bleach. For my tub, using dichlor it takes 3 tablespoons (or about 3 oz bleach) to get to that amount ... more if more people go in. Dichlor is relatively inexpensive and bleach is ridiculously inexpensive ... non chlorine shock is expensive to use.

As far as the Taylor reading CC - there is a chemical in non chlorine shock that reacts with the Taylor reagents - again I'm not 100% sure if it is with all Taylor kits or certain Taylor kits - that makes them read the water as having CC in it. The reaction goes away after a few days but if you are using non chlorine shock all the time then you will "never" get rid of the CC because of this reaction.

[Vinny]

Yesterday as per hot tub stores recommendations, I shocked it first, then added 1 tablespoon of sanitizer granules not 1 cap like before!!!!  lol

So you shocked the water, and then shocked it again? 

You're headed in the right direction.  Get your TA down to 60-80 ppm, which means adding a few more ounces of pH down, or acid.  I use standard muriatic acid that I get at my local hardware store, $5 per gallon. 

I don't worry about CC, just how much Free Chlorine (FC) is in the water.  If you check one day and the FC is at 3ppm, and then check two days later, the FC will be zero.  Just because nobody has used the tub doesn't mean the FC will be constant.  You have to add chlorine every day or every other day, depending on how much you add. 

With experience, you will be adding chemicals with confidence.  Don't overthink it right now.  Having the best test kit available is a great start.

I think with a pH of 7.5 - it doesn't matter what the alkalinity is - it will be kind of locked in. Non chlorine shock is acidic (pH around 4) so it will drop it down. Dichlor ultimately becomes acidic so it too will eventually drop it down. If the pH was high and needed to be adjusted low - then adjusting alkalinity low will work.

[ewaba]

Thanks for your feedback:)  Im just waiting for the chlorine level to fall again.  Just as well its really cold here in Canada......I'm not in the mood for running out there for a tub right now anyhow.  I'm going to take advice from this site and trust the Taylor kit from now on, mind you I may need to buy more bulk chlorine reagents the way I am checking everything, lol. 

[sksmoker]

You will burn through your test kit stuff quickly in the beginning so take some advice from someone who has been there, without the luxury of ordering refills of off amazon like our fellow us folk..

The only thing to use the test strips for is FC. Test the water with your taylor kit then test your strips. See the difference and make a note of it. If you don't and you keep testing you will go through your reagents really fast. And with the exchange rate right now, there is no point really.

Once you know if your test strips read X high or X low for FC compared to the taylor kit, you are on your way. Just try to make sure that your FC doesn't reach 0, then you'll have to shock it, wait for the water to clear up, etc. It sucks, especially in winter!

I add a few OZ of chlorine(bleach) every few days with my routine, especially in winter. I keep mine about 5-6ppm just because if it gets cold and I can't get out to the tub I know I will have a few days of buffer with the chlorine.

It feels like you are stepping off a cliff but the advice/knowledge is here and I trust these guys more than anyone. So far, 1.5 years of pretty much trouble free ownership due to the information here and I am the wacky guy with a mini-puck floater! If I can pull it off, you can to. You will get to know your water, it will just take time.